Stories from an Eastern Wonderland
by Ninefl4mes
Summary: A new resident has appeared in the Eastern Wonderland. One day, Sophia awakes in a place completely alien to her, without knowing what happened. This is the story of her arrival in the wondrous realm of Gensokyo and her new life among it's people.
1. Prologue: A Prayer

**Prologue: A prayer**

In an abandoned shrine, somewhere in Japan, an ancient being was disturbed in it's slumber. The area around the shrine was covered in a deep and dark forest. Nobody dared to enter. It was a mysterious region and tales of people gone missing in the woods were commonplace.

Regardless, a person had come to the old shrine. The figure climbed up the stairs and stepped through the gate. Proceeding with downcast eyes, she knelt on the floor in front of the shrine and began muttering a prayer. It was then that _something_ began to move in it's sleep.

In this abandoned region, in this abandoned shrine, the sleeping deity answered to the first plea she had heard in centuries. The prayer of a person who had opened up her heart for the very first time.

 _Show me,  
what worth lies within the old fairy tales I used to love as a child?_


	2. Chapter 1: A new Beginning

**Chapter 1: A new beginning**

 _'Who is this...?'  
'A living being...'  
'A human...'  
'You do not belong here...'  
'Go... away...'  
_'...'  
 _'BEGONE!'_

"Oh shut it, will you!"

Sophia's eyes snapped open and she jumped up, instantly awake.

"Huh?"

The scenery that greeted her was not what she had expected.

"What the..."

She turned in all directions and inspected her environment.

"This is a... graveyard... right?"

Her field of view was limited because everything was covered in thick fog, but she could tell that there was a gravestone next to her. It seemed very old.

 _How did I end up here?_

The last thing she remembered was that she had gone to bed early and now she was in a creepy graveyard and heard voices. She reached up and pinched her cheek. Hard.

"Well, of course this wouldn't work."

That would have been way too easy after all. Next she held her nose closed and tried to breathe in. It didn't work either. In a last attempt she knelt down and tried to push her hand through the ground. Not a chance. She stood up again and sighed.

"Seems too real for a dream anyway... Wait, 'hearing voices'?"

She looked around again.

 _I can't see a damn thing in this fog._

She closed her eyes and tried to listen.

 _'Why are you still here...'  
'Go away...'_

Suddenly she felt a cold chill. It was like the temperature around her had dropped a few degrees.

 _What the hell is going on?!_

She opened her eyes and turned around. There was a weird... thing in front of her. It looked like a white, glowing balloon and it was floating about a metre above the ground. The cold seemed to be emanating from it. Now, normally, Sophia would have thought this to be an elaborate prank by someone. She would have stepped over to that 'balloon' and tried to poke it or something like that. She wasn't the kind of person who was afraid of ghosts or other such things after all. However, these were no normal circumstances. Sophia turned around and ran away. She didn't even know why, but this thing was giving her the creeps on an instinctual level. She also had that weird feeling that the voices she had heard inside her head had been coming from it.

 _Oh give me a break already!_

She stopped and gasped for air. Voices in her head? Glowing balloons that chilled their environment? She was starting to lose it, wasn't she? When she turned around, she could see lights in the fog. Something told her that they were heading in her direction.

"This is just perfect."

She started running again. She didn't know what those things could do besides glowing and being cold and she certainly did _not_ want to find out. It was hard to navigate through this place in the fog, though, and she almost ran into gravestones a few times. Added to that came the fact that she wasn't exactly dexterous. After about a minute she was already out of breath and her legs felt heavy. She stopped and collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.

"I... guess that's a new record for me..."

When she looked back she could no longer see the lights that had chased her. She also noticed that the fog was clearing up a little.

"What _were_ they anyway?"

She stood up.

"And _where the hell am I?_ "

She started walking again and looked around. Now that the fog was lifting she could make out a path. Trees were standing here and there but since it was winter she couldn't tell what kind. She didn't like them; they felt similar to the ghosts earlier.

"Ghosts, huh?"

She shook her head.

 _No way..._

This was going to be a bad day, she could feel it. Following the path, she tried to come up with a plan on how to proceed. She was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Japan probably, and she had no idea how she had got here.

"Guess I'll start with leaving this damn place..."

She didn't like it here. It was cold and dark and foggy. A look at the sky told her that it was night. Only now did she check what she had on her. She was wearing a black coat, her favourite one. She started searching the pockets but didn't find anything besides her MP3 player and a pair of earphones.

"Well... better than nothing."

She switched on the player and checked the time on the display. It was 02:35 AM. Next she opened the calendar app and checked the date: The 2nd of January.

"Um... what?"

She was prone to forgetting the current date, simply because it usually didn't matter that much, but she was fairly sure that today was supposed to be the 1st.

"Did I miss a whole day...?"

Since she had no way of confirming it, she decided to leave the matter for now. She switched off the device and kept walking down the path that would hopefully lead her out of here. It took her a few more minutes of walking to reach a big iron gate. She passed through it and turned around to look at the place once more. It was a pretty big hill and the fog seemed to be centred around it.

"A foggy hill with creepy trees... what a lovely place to build a graveyard..."

She turned away from the gate and looked around. Surrounding the hill was a wondrous landscape. It was a more or less flat plain, almost completely covered in snow and illuminated by the impossibly large full moon. A good distance away she could make out a giant forest and beginning from the hill a road emerged, strangely untouched by the snow.

"In the middle of nowhere indeed, huh?"

It was a good thing she had her coat on, otherwise she would probably freeze to death.

 _Well, let's try to think positively... This road should lead_ somewhere, _right?_

She went down the hill and stepped on it. A strange feeling came over her when she did this. It was hard to describe, but it felt like she was leaving something behind for good. She shook her head and marched forward. The road was indeed completely untouched by the snow, but it didn't look like this was due to someone clearing it. It looked more like the snow simply hadn't fallen on it. On the sides, mounds of snow were gradually getting higher the greater the distance to the road was. It seemed off, but that was the least thing that bothered Sophia. She couldn't tell where it was coming from, but she had a feeling that something was watching her. By the time she reached the outskirts of the forest she was sure of it. Regardless, she stopped and pondered for a while. It didn't seem like a very good idea to walk into an unknown forest in the dead of night. Actually, it seemed outright foolish to her. Then again, she didn't really have a choice in the matter. The road lead straight into the woods. Trying to leave it and walk through the snow would be even more stupid. She sighed and decided to keep following the road for now. Just when she had done that however, her follower had apparently decided to blow their cover.

It happened in an instant. Everything was shrouded in darkness. Sophia looked up and saw that the moon was hidden behind dark clouds.

She didn't know how she had seen it coming, but she jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid whatever had charged at her. _It_ flew right over her, a good distance away into the snow. _It_ turned around, realising that the sneak attack had been in vain and stared at her with red-glowing eyes. The clouds parted and _it_ was suddenly bathed in moonlight. Sophia gasped.

There, floating in the air above the snow, was what looked like a little girl. At least she _should have_ looked like a little girl. She wore a pitch black dress that stood in stark contrast to the snow surrounding her, and a red bow was placed in her shoulder-length blonde hair. Sophia was sure to be about twice as tall as her and the girl's proportions were that of a prepubescent. Still, Sophia couldn't call her a 'little girl'. In fact, she could hardly describe the being before her as 'human' at all. Instead of fingers, her hands ended in razor sharp talons and where, maybe, a mischievous smile should have been, Sophia was instead greeted with a predatory gaze from eyes that glowed in the dark like red flames. She couldn't move. Every fibre of her being told her that this girl was not human and _dangerous._ Still, she couldn't move. She simply stood there, paralysed by those eyes like a deer caught in the headlights.

They stared at each other until the clouds covered the moon again. In that instant the spell was broken and _it_ started another attack. Sophia got a hold of herself just in time to get out of the way. Right now she should have panicked, but strangely enough she didn't. Instead, she turned around and ran into the woods.

 _A place to hide...!_

At least the trees should offer her cover. She was running as fast as she could, but every time she looked behind, the girl was still in sight, visibly amused by her prey's attempt to get away from her. This went on for a few minutes until Sophia simply couldn't keep it up any more. She collapsed to the floor and desperately sucked in cold air.

"You're done already? How boring~"

The voice came from behind her. She rolled out of the way and the tree that had been in front of her was torn apart by razor sharp claws.

 _Guess the 'dangerous' part was about right..._

She kept her eyes on the girl and tried to come up with a plan to get out of this situation. The girl grinned and revealed her predator like teeth.

"What are you going to do I wonder...~"

The next attack came so fast that Sophia didn't even have time to react. The girl dove in, clearly done toying with her prey, and aimed a blow at Sophia's heart. The next instant she let out a sharp cry and Sophia was blown backwards.

A golden wall of light had appeared between them.

 _Uh... what?_

She had no idea what had happened, but she could tell that the girl was already recovering.

 _Run now, wonder later._

She hastily got up and ran away. She could hear the girl's melodious voice coming from behind her.

"You're not getting away~"

Then everything turned black.

"What?!"

Sophia stopped and looked around but to no avail. It was like somebody had turned off the lights.

 _It's this girl's doing?_

Right now she couldn't see anything at all, so it probably wasn't a good idea to keep running. She cursed and slowed down her pace, now walking forward carefully.

 _There's no way I'm going to get away like this!_

She could feel the girl coming closer to her by the second.

"Where are you~?"

She sounded like a child playing hide and seek. Sophia pondered about that for a second.

 _Does that mean she can't see me like this...?_

Suddenly, another thought struck her.

 _How do I know where she is?_

She couldn't describe it, but somehow she _knew_ that the girl was about 15 metres away from her and slowly coming closer. She could also tell that the girl was moving just as carefully as she was.

 _She really can't see in the darkness she caused..._

That made this whole 'turning off the light' power pretty... useless, didn't it...?

 _She's probably heading into my direction because she heard me just now..._

An idea formed in her mind. She knelt on the floor and began searching for a stone. The girl was coming closer by the second, but she should still have time-

 _There!_

Sophia carefully stood up and threw the stone away from her, into the direction of the girl. The stone went past her and landed a few metres away, making a loud rustle in the process.

"Got you~!"

Sophia grinned as the girl turned around and started to hurry to where the stone had landed. She used the distraction to get farther away, hoping not to run into even more trouble. For example, a tree.

"You're not getting aw-" ***BAM***

She heard something rustling and suddenly, the moonlight was back.

 _Huh?_

Sophia turned around and looked in the girl's direction.

"What just happened...?"

She knew that it probably was a bad idea, but curiosity got the better of her and she walked over to where she could feel the girl's presence. As she did that she noticed two things. First, she had somehow managed to run down a path with more or less nothing in the way. She shuddered.

 _That was way too close..._

And second, well...

"She seriously managed to hit the only tree on said path...? Uh... I guess that counts for something..."

Right now the girl was passed out beside the tree, covered in snow. Sophia shrugged, turned away and started to walk at a brisk pace. She did _not_ want to be there when that girl woke up.

"Still... where am I now?"

She realized that she wasn't on the road any more and she had no idea how to get back on it, or how to leave the forest for that matter.

"This is just perfect."

She picked a random direction, hoping it would not lead her even deeper into the forest. As she walked she thought about the events thus far.

"Who, or what, was that anyway...?"

Not really minding her steps she started to think about her situation. She had no idea where she was or how she had got here in the first place. All she knew was that she apparently missed a whole day and was still in Japan. The girl had spoken the language after all. Something had been off about her though.

"Apart from the fact that she was _floating_ and trying to gut me with her _talons_ of course..."

What in the world was going on? She was fairly sure that this was no dream since she had done the reality checks earlier, but it still felt so surreal. There was also this new sense she apparently had developed. Now that she was aware of it, she could sense a large number of presences around her. They were not moving and they felt different from the girl earlier…

"Don't tell me I can sense the trees as well-"

She stopped dead in her tracks. There was something else above her and this something was watching her. Her heart missed a beat. Had the girl already recovered? Was something else after her now? She ducked behind a tree and began assessing her surroundings with all her senses. She couldn't see much because it was quite dark at the moment. Aside from that she could feel a presence above her. She looked up and saw something jumping at her.

 _Shit!_

She tried to get out of the way, but the thing came at her way too fast and pinned her against the tree. She felt a sharp pain at her neck and her body became numb. She couldn't move nor was she able to speak.

 _What the-_

She could feel how _something_ was drained from her. Her body became cold and her vision blurred.

 _So this is it for me...?_

Just as she thought that, for the second time now, a golden light appeared and separated her from her assailant. She collapsed to the ground and started to shake uncontrollably. She felt cold and weak. Not simply out of fear either. She literally felt _weak,_ like she hadn't eaten anything in weeks. She curled up and tried to get control over her body back. After a few seconds the shaking stopped and her sight cleared up. Using the tree for support she got up and looked at the perpetrator. A girl was lying a small distance away from her, currently in the process of rubbing her cheek with a sullen face.

"Ow..."

Sophia would have run away if she had been able to, but her legs were barely able to keep her standing at the moment and her breathing was ragged like she had just run a marathon. A look at the girl's face told her the reason for that: She was completely covered in blood. Sophia reached up to her neck and looked at her finger. It was red. Looking down at her coat told her that it was in a similar state. Yet, there was no pain, nor could she make out a wound that would explain such a blood loss.

 _Am I losing it for good now...?_

She felt the girl's stare and tensed up but she didn't panic.

 _Not like I can do a thing right now..._

The girl was looking at her with wide eyes. After a moment she looked down at her hands and up again. She seemed utterly bewildered.

"Um... What did I do again...?"

Sophia stared at her.

"Are you serious?"

The girl tilted her head, which caused her ponytail to fall over her shoulder.

"Am I?"

She looked like a lost kid. Her hair was golden and her eyes a scarlet red. She was wearing a frilly red-white dress and on her back were two... things. They looked a bit like the wings from a bat, only that there was no membrane. In its stead, a set of coloured gems hung from the wing's frames like decoration from a Christmas tree. Judging by her looks and her current behaviour Sophia estimated her age to be around eight. That childlike appearance stood in stark contrast to her bloodstained face and dress however.

 _Attacked by psychopathic little girls two times in one hour... What a lovely place this is..._

Sophia sat down. Standing was too tiring for her and she highly doubted she would get away in time anyway. The girl looked at her curiously.

"Who are you?"

Even though she looked nothing like it, her Japanese was flawless. Sophia sighed.

"I'm Sophia. What's your name?"

The girl smiled.

"My name is Flandre."

'Flandre'? What a weird name that was. Sophia eased up a little. Something told her that this girl, Flandre, was not dangerous at the moment.

 _Part of that new sense...?_

It was like an... intent was radiating from the girl in front of her. She was curious.

"Hey, do you know how to get out of the forest? I've been wandering in circles for days now..."

That was an excellent question. The problem was just that Sophia had wanted to ask it as well. She shook her head.

"Beats me. I would really like to know that myself."

Flandre grinned.

"You got lost on an adventure, too?"

 _An adventure huh?_

"Uh... something like that...?"

She couldn't believe she was having a conversation like this with a girl who had literally tried to kill her a few seconds ago. Flandre stood up and grinned, revealing razor sharp teeth.

"Okay~ let's find the exit together!"

 _What._

Flandre shrank under Sophia's glare.

"Um... is something wrong...?"

She seemed nervous. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"You are standing before me, covered in my blood, and ask _me_ if something is wrong?"

Common sense was obviously not one of Flandre's strong points.

"Uh..."

Only now did the girl seem to realize their situation. Sophia before her, collapsed to the floor and breathing heavily, and herself covered in blood. She touched her cheek and stared at her red finger.

"Your... blood...?"

She looked at Sophia, then at her finger, then back at Sophia.

"Eh?"

She took a step forward, but apparently changed her mind and backed away. She stared at Sophia with a shocked expression. Sighing, Sophia stood up again. It was exhausting and she felt dizzy but she managed to stand upright. On top of her physical exhaustion came the fact that her new sense provided her with way too much information to process right now. She could _feel_ how the girl's thought started to go in circles.

 _'I drank her blood...?'  
'Ooh... Sis is going to be mad...'_

Sophia felt a headache again.

 _What the hell is happening to me?_

She wondered why she could feel Flandre so clearly now. Was it because she made no effort in concealing herself at the moment?  
Flandre looked at her with big eyes.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good..."

Sophia rolled her eyes.

"I wonder why."

Flandre looked down.

"I'm sorry..."

She looked like a scolded child. Despite the situation Sophia couldn't help but chuckle.

"You really are a weird one. Why did you attack me in the first place?"

She seemed to become smaller by the second.

"Because I was hungry..."

Sophia remembered the thoughts she had heard from Flandre.

'I drank her blood?'

 _Now that I think of it, I can't hear them right now..._

She shook her head.

"So the first thing that comes to mind in terms of food is blood. What are you, a vampire?"

Of course she had meant it as a joke. This made the fact that Flandre was nodding even more... interesting.

Sophia took a step back and stared at Flandre who peered at her, obviously surprised by her reaction. Under normal circumstances Sophia would not believe such a claim, but the current situation could hardly be called 'normal'. Taking a closer look at Flandre made it even harder to shrug the notion off as a joke. The girl's skin was pale. Not just 'does not get out very often'-pale. As a matter of fact Sophia could be described like that. Flandre's skin was as white as snow. That, in addition to the fangs and wings and, of course, the earlier incident, made Sophia actually willing to believe it for now.

 _Really, what the hell did I get myself into?_

She felt dizzy again and had to hold onto the tree in order to keep standing. Flandre closed in the remaining distance and looked at Sophia worriedly.

"Are you really okay?"

Sophia took a deep breath and let go of the tree. She seemed... alright. For now.

"Probably, for now at least. I'm starving though."

She looked down at Flandre.

"So, can I be sure you won't lose it and attack me again?"

Flandre started fiddling with her hands.

"Um... I think so. I'm full right now."

 _Well, judging by how I feel at the moment you sure had your share..._

"And how long will it take for you to get hungry again?"

Flandre pondered for a while and then looked up.

"I think sis told me once that I need to feed once every two weeks."

Something about how Flandre had said it made her curious.

"You are talking like you've never done this before."

Flandre shook her head.

"I'm not allowed to feed on living humans. Sis thinks it would be too dangerous."

Having experienced it first-hand, Sophia had to agree on that.

"Sounds about right. Please don't do it again."

Flandre looked annoyed.

"I couldn't help it! When I noticed the presence of a human I lost control. I still can't remember what exactly happened!"

Sophia hadn't expected such a strong reaction. She shrugged and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Well..."

She had many questions right now but Flandre didn't seem like the right person for a Q&A.

"I guess it's alright if we go together for now."

Flandre's face lit up and she grinned broadly.

"Thank you!"

Sophia sighed as they started to walk together through the dark forest.

 _A vampire that is afraid of dark woods... What is the world coming to?_

* * *

"They are moving on together now?"

On a tree, above the two wanderers, three figures were sitting and watched as a human and a vampire made their way through the forest together.

"That human is kind of weird, isn't she?"

The figure in the middle watched the girl in question warily. Beside her, the third one spoke up.

"That makes things more interesting!"

The first one nodded and the second one agreed as well, albeit a little later.

"We should still be cautious. That human really _is_ weird."

The third figure simply grinned and jumped up in the air.

"Enough talk! Let's show them what happens when you enter our forest!"

The other two followed her in the air and the next instant, they all... vanished without a trace.

* * *

Sophia turned around and looked up. She could have sworn she had heard something.

"Is something the matter?"

She looked back at Flandre who was staring at her with those cat-like eyes. She shook her head.

"I don't know yet. We should stay on guard."  
"Okay~"

They started walking again and Sophia sighed.

Finding a way out had proven to be even more tedious than she had anticipated. No matter where they went, everything looked the same, and the one time where they had found a place that was different from the rest, it hadn't exactly been safe. The place in question was an area covered with giant mushrooms. It had been such a ridiculous scene, Sophia had had trouble believing her own eyes. Flandre had stopped her from going further in though.

" _I already was here a few days ago. There's something in the air_ _that has a poisonous effect, even on me. We should avoid this place."_

At this point, Sophia had been truly grateful for having a companion that knew at least a little about this forest. Walking into that place alone could've had nasty consequences. Apart from that incident, which already laid at least two hours back, nothing of interest had happened, and Sophia was beginning to tire out. The breaks she needed now and then were increasing in number, and it took her longer to catch her breath every time. Flandre didn't complain about it, probably because she knew that she was the reason for her fatigue, but Sophia could feel how the girl was getting impatient.

"You know, I get the feeling we've been here before..."

Sophia sighed. Now they were walking in circles. Great. Flandre sat on the ground and looked at her.

"You don't look too good."

Sophia noticed how her breathing was off, again. She sighed and sat beside Flandre.

"Someone is following us." Flandre looked up into the trees.

Sophia looked at her.

"You think so, too?"

Flandre stared at her and Sophia looked away. That girl's eyes were creepy as hell.

"Do you think they are the reason we can't get away from here...?"

Sophia chuckled.

"And how exactly would that work? I'm thankful they at least don't attack us..."

Flandre cocked her head.

"But that would make things way easier..."

 _Huh?_

Sophia looked at Flandre.

"How so?"

Flandre grinned. Something about it unnerved Sophia quite a bit.

"Then I would simply beat them up and the problem would be solved!"

Sophia shook her head.

"I wish I had your confidence. Up until now, everything here has tried to kill me."

An idea struck her. She looked up.

"Do you think you could do something about it if I found out where they are?"

Flandre stood up.

"Uh... I think so, but how do you plan to do it?"

Sophia ignored her and got into a more comfortable position. Whoever was following them, they obviously were pretty good at hiding themselves.

 _Time to find out what that sense is good for..._

She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the things surrounding them. It was harder than before, the girl beside her had an overwhelming presence. Sophia once again wondered how the hell she had missed her before the attack.

 _Doesn't matter right now..._

She tried to tune out Flandre's presence. It took her a while but-

 _Finally._

She finally managed to sense something beside Flandre. There were three presences above them that felt different from the rest. They were hard to detect because they felt rather similar to the tree they were sitting on, but Sophia could tell that they were no plants. They also seemed to conceal their presence, though Sophia didn't know how she could tell.

 _So we were right about having unwanted company..._

Unfortunately, she didn't know what they were up to. Unlike with Flandre, Sophia was unable to sense their intentions.

 _Better play dumb for now..._

There was a more pressing issue at the moment. A fair distance away she could make out another presence. A _powerful_ presence. She opened her eyes and stood up, facing the direction where she could feel it.

"You found something?"

Sophia nodded.

"I can feel something over there. It's pretty... intense."

Flandre grinned and was already in the process of running into said direction, but Sophia managed to stop her, albeit barely.

"Hold it. What if they turn out to be hostile?"

Flandre revealed her fangs.

"What if they do?"

Sophia rolled her eyes.

"You forgot already? Everyone I've met here so far has been trying to kill me."

Flandre looked at her strangely.

"You think so? Well if they try again I'll protect you!"

Still grinning, she took Sophia's hand and dragged her along. Sophia sighed. The girl was way stronger than her appearance suggested.

 _You do realize that I included you in that statement as well, right?_

"Fine, then I'll leave it to you."

Her hand ached.

"By the way, if you keep squeezing my hand like this you're going to crush my bones."

Flandre let go of her immediately.

"Are humans really this fragile...?"

She looked bewildered. Sophia put a hand to her forehead. Somehow she seemed to be very prone to headaches today.

"Apparently. Shall we move on? Maybe we can ask them for directions."

Flandre nodded and they started to walk toward the presence. It took them longer than expected, partly because the path seemed to change the moment they looked away from it, and also because Sophia's fatigue was seriously getting annoying by now. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached a large clearing. Sophia checked once more for the three presences that had followed them and, sure enough, they were still there. The two of them entered the clearing. It looked like the trees had been removed by hand here. In the middle was a small house, currently bathed in moonlight.

"We made it!" Flandre exclaimed cheerfully.

"Keep it down a little, it's the middle of the night."

Or rather very early in the morning; it was currently 5:03 AM. Regardless, she could tell that the house's occupant was awake. There was light coming from the windows. They made their way over and Sophia knocked on the door. She heard something rustling inside and it opened.

"Yes?"

A girl was standing there. She seemed a few years younger than Sophia, probably around 16. She wore a light blue dress and her blonde hair was held back by a red hair-band.

"Um..."

Sophia was nervous. Dealing with strangers always made her uncomfortable and there still was the possibility that this girl could be dangerous.

"We're kind of lost and were hoping you could help us..."

The girl peered at Sophia, measuring her up. It didn't help her nervousness one bit. A teasing voice came from behind Sophia.

"What are you getting so shy for?"

She looked back and saw Flandre grinning.

 _Oh shut up._

Hearing the girl gasping she turned at her again and saw her staring at Flandre with a bewildered expression. She seemed to think about something for a moment and then looked back at Sophia.

"Fine, come in."

She stepped back and gestured into the hallway. Sophia complied and, after noticing that Flandre had not followed her, looked back at the vampire. She simply stood there and peered at them.

"Um... may I come in as well?"

The girl nodded and Flandre finally followed after Sophia.

 _What was that about?_

They were led into the living room. It looked fairly comfortable. Sophia sat down at the table and Flandre went to the fireplace. Their host went out of the room.

"Wait here, I will prepare some tea." and after taking a closer look at Sophia she added, "And I think you could use something to eat."

With this she left the room and Sophia felt the urge to lay down on the table.

"Do I look that bad?"

Flandre grinned.

"Like you could drop dead any minute."

Sophia glared at her.

"I wonder whose fault that is..."

Flandre sat down and yawned.

"I already told you that I didn't do it on purpose."

Sophia sighed and looked around. Even though the girl had spoken Japanese, she didn't look anything like it and this room looked quite western as well. The table with the chairs, the massive walls and the fireplace, they all looked like taken from an European household.

 _Also, her Japanese sounded weird somehow..._

Not like she was not used to it. It was something else Sophia couldn't pinpoint. She felt similar whenever Flandre spoke...

She was shaken out of her reverie by Flandre, who made a sound of excitement. Looking up at the door, she witnessed yet another strange thing. A tray filled with sweets and three cups came flying toward the table. That in itself was already pretty... interesting, but the tray was carried by four little dolls that were floating in the air.

 _I think 'what the hell' is going to become my catchphrase should things keep up like this..._

She stood up and went over to Flandre to prevent the girl from catching the dolls. Their host would most likely not appreciate it. Flandre complied and settled with watching the dolls with shining eyes. They ignored them and, after placing the tray on the table, retreated. Just as they did, the girl came back.

"Sorry for the wait. I am not used to having guests."

Sophia shrugged.

"Huh…"

Their host gestured at the table and they all sat down, Flandre and Sophia on one side, the girl on the other.

"Now, since I have never seen any of you, let us start with introductions. My name is Alice Margatroid. As should be obvious, I live here, in the Forest of Magic."

 _Well that nails it, she's foreign..._

That name was definitely not Japanese. Sophia also finally noticed what was off about the girl's language: It sounded _antiquated_. The next to introduce herself was Flandre. She seemed in a good mood, probably because of the sweets.

"I'm Flandre Scarlet. I live in my sister's mansion at the Misty Lake."

Alice nodded. Now that Sophia had noticed it, Flandre's way of speech sounded quite similar.

"So I was right about you. I was unaware that miss Remilia had a sister."

Flandre shrugged.

"I don't get out that often."

Alice frowned.

"Then why are you here of all places? This is as far away as you can get from the Misty Lake."

Flandre started fiddling with her hands.

"I, uh... kind of... ran away. I had a fight with sis and wanted to go on a walk by myself, like she does from time to time. And now I'm here and have no idea how to get back."

 _So that's what she meant by 'adventure', huh?_

Sophia chuckled. They both looked at her and Alice seemed annoyed.

"It is interesting for you to find it funny. Judging by the state you are in, you experienced first-hand how dangerous she is."

Sophia shrugged.

"It was hardly the worst thing to happen to me today."

That line seemed to pique Alice's interest. She stared at Sophia, who in turn averted her eyes.

"Who are you?"

Sophia sighed.

"My name is Sophia Ommerborn."

Flandre tilted her head.

"What a weird name..."

 _I don't think I should hear that coming from you..._

Sophia smiled.

"It's German."

She could feel Alice's gaze on her even though she was looking at Flandre. She looked back at her host and was met with a worried expression.

"You are... an outsider, are you not?"

She could feel surprise coming from Flandre and looked at her again. The vampire was watching her with a shocked expression. She shrugged.

"Considering that I have no idea what exactly you mean by that, I suppose I am."

Alice sighed and walked to the windows.

"That complicates matters quite a bit."

Sophia watched her from behind.

"How about we start with where this place is located. You called it 'Forest of Magic'."

Alice faced her and shook her head.

"The Forest of Magic is where we are right now, but it is only one part of what we call 'Gensokyo'."

She walked over to them and clapped her hands. A doll came flying into the room and put a pen and a sheet of paper on the table before taking off and leaving the room. Sophia watched it until it was out of sight.

"That's a pretty neat trick."

Alice chuckled and took the pen. She wrote three Chinese characters on the paper and handed it over to Sophia. She took it and read out loud what was written there:

幻想郷

' _Gensō-kyō_ '

 _' The native place of illusions '_

Sophia looked up and met Alice's gaze.

"So what, I'm in some kind of fantasy world now?"

Alice watched her.

"You are surprisingly calm."

Sophia shrugged.

"The whole day, uh... night, has been one hell of a freak show until now. Trust me, I'm not calm at all. I'm simply beyond panicking at this point."

The whole thing sounded like a pretty bad joke, but she simply could not dismiss it as such anymore. Not after what had happened so far. Alice looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"We should get you out of the forest first. It is a very dangerous place for humans, especially for outsiders."

She turned at Flandre.

"That includes you as well. I am sure your sister is worried about you."

Flandre shuddered.

"She is going to tear me apart, if that's what you mean by worrying..."

 _You reap what you sow._

Sophia chuckled.

"And what are we going to do once we're out?"

Alice frowned.

"Normally, you could simply go to the human village, but..."

She looked at Flandre.

"That would be a bad idea with a vampire in tow, I take it?"

That was pretty obvious. Alice nodded.

"At any rate, you should get out of the forest first. You simply have to follow the road, and you should get out sooner or later."

Now it was Sophia's turn to frown.

"It would be nice if it was that easy, but someone has been following us for quite a while now."

Flandre nodded.

"I think they are the reason why we were walking in circles the whole time."

Alice closed her eyes briefly and looked out of the window. She seemed annoyed.

"So they are playing their game again, huh?"

Sophia and Flandre shared a glance and Flandre shrugged.

"Um..."

Alice sighed.

"I am sorry. They like to play pranks on strangers. Follow me."

She was already in the process of leaving the room, but seemed to change her mind after taking another glance at Sophia.

"Wait a moment."

She clapped again and a few seconds later a doll came flying toward Sophia and handed her a wet towel.

"You might want to clean your face."

Sophia, realising that her face was still covered in her own blood, took the towel.

"You might be right about that. Thanks."

After getting the blood off, she followed Alice and Flandre outside. Once they were standing in front of the house, the puppeteer turned around.

"You two have been toyed with. There are quite a few fairies living here. Among them is a certain trio that likes to lead those astray who wander the forest."

Sophia looked at the tree where she could still feel the three presences that had followed them all this way.

 _Fairies, huh?_

That would explain why they felt so similar to the trees surrounding them. If they were anything like the fairies from the stories she was familiar with, they should be spirits of nature. She pointed at the tree.

"If you're talking about the trio that has been following us around, they're over there."

Alice looked at her, clearly surprised, but quickly turned to the tree Sophia was pointing at and held out her right arm. A doll appeared beside her and mimicked the gesture. A light formed in the doll's palm. One second later there was a blinding flash of light and cries of surprise were heard from the tree. Alice clapped. More dolls seemingly appeared out of nowhere and pinned the three figures that had fallen from the branches against the trunk with miniature lances. Sophia whistled.

"I might be repeating myself, but that's a really neat trick."

Flandre giggled. Alice on the other hand seemed pretty angry right now. They went over to their captives and Sophia took a closer look at them.

 _More little girls, huh?_

Somehow she was getting the impression, that everyone around here who seemed to be in their pre-teens was a troublesome individual. The fairies were pinned against the tree over one another. Starting from top to bottom, number one had fiery red hair and wore a frilly red-white dress. She resembled Flandre a little. Number two had golden hair in a weird hairstyle that looked like drills and wore a white hat on top of it. Her dress was mostly white with a little black here and there. Number three, the one at the bottom, wore a dark blue dress. A bow of the same colour rested in her long, black hair. They all had transparent wings on their backs.

"Hey! Let go! We didn't do anything to you did we?!"

Number one apparently didn't like the situation she was in one bit.

 _Quite a lively one, aren't we?_

Sophia had trouble keeping a straight face. Alice sighed.

"I told you before that it means trouble for me when you cause humans to get lost in the forest."

Number two muttered something under her breath. Alice looked at her.

"What was that?"

The fairy threw an annoyed glance at Sophia and then looked at Alice.

"I said that's why we tried to keep them away from your house, but it obviously didn't work."

Sophia chuckled.

"How did you guys do it in the first place?"

They avoided looking at her. Alice spoke up.

"They can erase sound and refract light in order to create illusions or become invisible."

They shrank under Alice's harsh glare. Number three, who had simply pouted up until now, seemed to lose her patience.

"I told you this human was weird!" she snapped at the other two.

Number one rolled her eyes.

"And since when would something like that stop us? You're such a scaredy-cat, Star!"

Now number three (apparently her name was Star) seemed outright pissed off.

"When I tell you guys to not overdo it, I usually have a reason! Thanks to you I'm in trouble as well now!"

Alice cleared her throat. It was almost inaudible since they were so loud, but it was enough to silence them in an instant.

 _Talk about scary..._

Sophia made a mental note to never get on the puppeteer's bad side.

"The point is, you are going to retreat for tonight. The human in question-", she glanced at Sophia, "-happens to be an outsider, so this goes way beyond a simple prank. Are we clear?"

Star and number two nodded, but number one looked stubborn.

"Humph. Her fault for walking into the forest."

Alice's right eye twitched ever so slightly. Star, apparently the only of the three to notice it, seemed very close to panicking right now.

"Sunny, keep it down! Luna, she is in your reach so shut her up, before her big mouth gets us into even more trouble!"

Turning to Alice and Sophia she added,

"We are sorry and we will stop for tonight. Could you please let us go?"

It was a pretty amusing sight to say the least. They looked like a group of kids whose prank had gone horribly wrong, and who were now being scolded for it. Sophia probably would have grinned by now, if it weren't for the fact that Alice looked fairly murderous. Her amusement didn't go unnoticed, of course.

"I wonder how you can find the situation funny. Who knows what could have happened."

Now it was Sophia's turn to be glared at. She shrugged.

"I don't think it matters that much. While quite a few things _could have_ happened, nothing serious _did_ happen, and I only noticed your presence because I had a feeling that someone was watching us and checked."

Alice frowned at her and looked at the fairies. She sighed.

"Fine. I will let it slide. This time."

She relaxed and the dolls vanished, causing the fairies to fall to the ground. Two of them at least. Star had gone out of the way just in time to avoid the other two falling on top of her.

"Sunny, you're heavy, get off!"

Number two, Luna, struggled and Sunny hastily stood up. She looked at them, clearly annoyed, before turning around.

"I'm off!"

She flapped her wings and flew off. Luna stood up and, after dusting off her clothes, looked at Sophia guiltily and took off as well.

"So..."

Star went over to them and looked at Sophia curiously.

"What exactly are you?"

Sophia met her stare with a questioning look.

"Um... what do you mean?"

Star cocked her head.

"You feel weird, you know. Do all humans from the Outside World feel like that?"

 _The 'Outside World'? As in 'the world outside Gensokyo'?_

Sophia shrugged.

"I have no idea."

Star grinned.

"You're interesting."

With that she turned around and followed her companions into the dark forest. Flandre watched her until she was out of sight, and then looked at Sophia.

"What was that about?"

Sophia shrugged.

"Beats me."

They went back into the house and Alice told Sophia and Flandre to wait in the living room.

* * *

Both of them were now seated at the table. Flandre was watching the dolls on the shelves and Sophia had her head rested on the table. They both looked up when Alice came back. She was holding a bag in one hand and a rather large doll in the other. Sophia took a closer look at it. Like the others it had blonde hair, but it was longer than that of the others. The doll also _felt_ different. Sophia could clearly sense it's presence.

 _Is it... alive...?_

Considering the events thus far, it wouldn't even surprise her that much, but the presence of the doll was a bit too weak to be called 'alive'. Alice cleared her throat and Sophia looked at her.

"This one will lead you out of the forest."

She gestured at the doll.

"It will probably take you about an hour to get out, so I made you something to eat, in case you get hungry."

She held the bag up and looked at Sophia.

"It should also help your fatigue."

Sophia sighed.

"It's _that_ obvious?"

Flandre giggled and Alice smiled and nodded.

"It is."

After that they left the house. Alice let go of the doll, and it started to float a small distance above the ground. Sophia and Flandre watched it in wonder, as it bowed to them and then faced the road they were going to wander.

"Just follow her and you will leave the forest eventually. You will find a small shop called 'Kourindou' not far away. The shopkeeper should be able to help you further."

Sophia faced Alice and nodded.

"Thank you for your help."

Beside her, Flandre curtsied.

"Thank you very much."

Alice smiled.

"Good luck."

With this she turned around and went into her house again. The doll started to float down the road and Sophia and Flandre hurried to follow their guide.

* * *

As Alice had predicted, it took them about an hour to reach their destination. By the time they finally stepped out of the forest, the sun was about to rise. The doll that had guided them so far stopped, and so did they. It bowed to them, turned around, and flew back into the forest. Flandre watched it sadly, causing Sophia to grin mockingly.

"You're fond of dolls, I take it?"

Flandre puffed her cheeks.

"I'm not."

"If you say so..."

They continued down the road and, after a few minutes of walking, found the shop Alice had mentioned. It was an old Japanese-style building. On a sign above the entrance they read 'Kourindou'.

"Looks like this is it."

Flandre nodded. They went over to the door and Sophia knocked

 _Let's see where this is going..._

They could hear something from inside and, after a while, the door opened. A middle-aged man was standing in the entrance and look at them, clearly half asleep.

"Yes? How may I help you?"

* * *

 **Author's note**

 **Aaaand that's it for the first Chapter. Hello and welcome to my very first Fanfiction. And what would be a better starting point than trying to sqeeze my own interpretation of Gensokyo and it's residents into said first story, am I right?  
This is going to be yet another 'protagonist meets Gensokyo' story and it's probably going to be pretty big. Having said that, I hope you like it.**


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